Equol is a metabolite that is metabolized from an isoflavone by human and other animal's intestinal bacteria. Due to its antiestrogenic effects, equol is known to improve various symptoms caused by decreased female hormones.
Equol is produced by intestinal bacterial from soy bean products and the like, but the amount of equol produced may differ depending not only on the amount of soy beans ingested, but also on individual differences in intestinal flora. Equol may also be ingested directly. As equol exhibits antiestrogenic effects, and it is important to monitor both individual equol production ability (produced amounts) and the total amount of equol in the body.
A method has already been provided for using an anti-equol antibody to measure equol in urine (Patent Literature 1).